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Diving brief:

• Simbe, the robotics company whose aisle analysis robots are present in several American grocery chains, announced Thursday that it has raised $50 million in Series C funding round led by Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives.
• The robotics company said it plans to use the new funding to expand into new product areas, evolve its solutions with global deployments and “pursue strategic growth opportunities.” The company also plans to expand its team, which has doubled in the past year.
• The new capital brings the total amount raised by Simbe to more than $100 million and comes at a time when the company is seeing a “growing demand” for retail technology across retail verticals.

Dive overview:

Simbe, the maker of the aisle scanning robot called Tally, has refined its technology to help retailers and sellers gain increased visibility into the status of stores and shelves.

In just over a year, the retail automation solutions provider said it has introduced several new technology capabilities and expanded its partnerships. This summer is technology launched which allows grocers to remotely visually monitor inventory levels, product layouts and other aspects of their stores using images and data captured by Tally. The company also launched a shelf information platform this year designed specifically for wholesale and club environments. a brand analysis solution which gives retail partners near real-time shelf information.

“We proactively led Simbe’s $50 million round because we recognize their distinct ability to drive retail transformation and meet the growing demand for AI and robotics,” said Ben Fife , investor in Growth Equity at Goldman Sachs Alternatives, in a press release.

Fife added that Simbe is “well positioned to capitalize on the huge market opportunity” in retail automation.

The Series C cycle relies on Simbe Series B Round in July 2023, which grossed $28 million and was led by Eclipse.

Simbe noted in Thursday’s announcement that it unveiled new and expanded partnerships this year with retailers including SpartanNash, ShopRite, Northeast Grocery, CarrefourSA and three Albertsons brands: Market Street, United Supermarkets and Albertsons Market. The technology company also counts BJ’s Wholesale Club and Schnuck Markets among its clients.

Earlier this year, Simbe said that subscription revenue base tripled in 2023noting that this growth rate “represents Simbe’s path to profitability”.

A few months later, Simbe announced six appointments to senior positionsincluding Gopuff and Target veteran Jeremy Wortsman as senior director of customer success and Ben Bond as vice president of strategy and business development.